Our View: Strickland ought to be governor

Oct. 27, 2006

Our View

This editorial represents the consensus opinion of the Times Recorder's editorial board:

Kenneth Shelby, publisher

Len LaCara, managing editor

Pam James, lifestyles editor

Jeffory A. Dittmar, citizen member

Linda Higby, citizen member

George Pappas Sr., citizen member

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After some 200,000 lost jobs, repeated political failures and an ethics conviction, it's finally time to replace Gov. Bob Taft.

His successor, either Democrat Ted Strickland or Republican Ken Blackwell, faces a long, uphill battle to restore the power of the governor's office and cajole the fractured General Assembly into solving Ohio's most pressing issues: school funding, soaring college costs, new jobs and controlling taxes.

Strickland, a 12-year congressman, brings a wealth of experience to the race and promises to make education his No. 1 issue if elected. He correctly notes local property owners already are paying too much for schools, a state funding responsibility. He's also committed to making college more affordable for all Ohioans.

The congressman also knows education is a critical key to growing our workforce and vows to guarantee a trained workforce for any employer adding 20 more new jobs.

He's also a man of integrity. Strickland does not accept Congress' free medical insurance, repays his automatic pay raises and has returned more than $1 million to the government by operating his office efficiently.

Blackwell, the secretary of state, has correctly identified many of the key issues facing Ohio, including the need to control public government costs.

But his plan to arbitrarily require public schools to spend 65 percent of their funds in classrooms would establish a new bureaucratic bookkeeping nightmare without any guarantee schools might improve. And leasing Ohio's turnpike to infuse cash into state government today would needlessly mortgage the state's future.

It's time for a change in Columbus. We need a governor who judges issues on their own merits, not his own political agenda. We need a leader who can work with both parties and all political perspectives.

Ted Strickland meets those tests and deserves your vote.

This editorial represents the views of the editorial boards of the Times Recorder and Coshocton Tribune. It is adapted from an editorial that appeared in the Newark Advocate. The three boards met separately to decide their positions on this race but came to the same conclusion.